Knees on the ground on the ocher of Monte-Carlo, his garden, and arms in the sky, Valentin Vacherot must have felt something crazy by winning a round of 16 at home for the first time in his career. It finally took him 2h53 to overcome the Pole Hubert Hurkacz (6-7, 6-3, 6-4), but the game was worth it. This is the third time that the local star has reached the quarter-final stages of the Masters 1000 after Shanghai, where he won the title against his French cousin Arthur Rinderknech, and Paris.
The first set alone lasted 1h10, a tough battle won by Hurkacz. Vacherot then took the measure of his opponent, often having the last word during long exchanges and breaking away in the seventh game of the last set to conclude the last meeting of the eighth. In the quarter, Vacherot will face Australian Alex De Minaur (6th), who beat Belgian qualifier Alexander Blockx (91st) 7-5, 7-6 (7/4).
The meteoric rise of the local stage
Faller in the second round of the 5th in the world, the Italian Lorenzo Musetti, Vacherot will, whatever happens, enter the top 20 for the first time in his career in the next ATP ranking – he will be at least 19th. Madness for someone who was only… 259th in the world a year ago, before exploding in the eyes of the whole world late in life, at the age of 27.
But he doesn’t intend to stop there and has big ambitions for the rest of his career. If he already said he was “happy” to have spent a round here last year and he finds it hard to believe that he is now one match away from the last four, Vacherot intends to tickle the world’s elite in a lasting way.
“The top 20? I knew it was going to happen at one point or another, he admitted after his victory. Now my goal is to be as high as possible at the time of Shanghai (in October, with the points from last year’s title to defend). But with what is there, do I set a limit for myself? No, I don’t put limits on myself. The Top 20, great. Now I think about the fact that I’m on shift here. » This is the right state of mind.
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